Yesterday, two lovers finally acknowledged that their relationship had come to an end. Sure, the $1.2 million divorce settlement will capture headlines, but the real story here is not one of cold numbers. It’s a tale of love lost, hearts broken, incredible lust and broken trust. Like all true love stories, the fiery tryst of Kevin Broadus and Binghamton University was destined for a crushing ending.

At the beginning though, it seemed nothing could go wrong. Courtship interviews had been brief and the 2007 marriage was almost immediate.

And the honeymoon never seemed to end. In only two years, all the couple’s dreams were coming true. Victories in the workplace, fabulous vacations to North Carolina, their adopted children were excelling. For the two lovers, everything was just swell. They were a winning couple ‘ it was a match made in heaven.

But the same passion that had brought the two lovers together began to drive them apart, and a neighbor’s persistent nosiness aired all of the couple’s dirty laundry. The children began to misbehave, for the entire neighborhood to see. They played in rose bushes, stayed up past their bedtime, assaulted the elderly and brokered crack deals. Their beloved parents made excuses and covered up the mess.

But the problems with the kids soon drove a wedge between their kindred hearts. One night, all the problems that had been left unsaid exploded in a fight so grand, so messy, so convoluted and twisted that it would take a team of lawyers to even begin to document it. At the climax of the fight, the University screamed across the room that Broadus was utterly incapable of raising the kids.

It was over, everyone knew it. But for a time, they lived in the same house but slept in different beds. Divorce proceedings began, everyone knew that they would be ugly. Broadus knew he would lose custody, he said he wanted to make it work. But Broadus blindsided everyone when he started to accuse his lover of racism.

Who would have thought that after a loving two-year relationship, Broadus could believe that his spouse had mistreated him because of his race? It seems to not even have a part in the story, but Broadus insisted, he said he had done nothing wrong.

Yesterday though, the story came to its dramatic conclusion when Broadus dropped the custody battle and won a huge divorce settlement ‘ part of which was due precisely to his surprising claims of racism. He will move on, maybe to do it all again, he’s a very passionate man.

In the end, we are left with a simple lesson. Sometimes when you’re in love, when things seem too good to be true, they are.